The Empyreal Gem Master

And this trembling Gem Master gritted his teeth as he stopped any pleading words, looking between the two of them and the expanse of trees around them as he said nothing.

He was freezing, and yet he said nothing!

"You must have been the one who let them know when Claire exactly entered the Jungle Grounds. So I ask you again, who are you sending your messages to? And why? Why would you betray your own humanity and work with Beasts of Corruption?!"

His voice increased an octave as he asked this.

And the trembling figure of the Gem Master in front of him had his teeth begin to clutter as he actually began to laugh.

"Why?! You…ask me why?!"

…!

Amidst his laughter, his expression paled even more as the life force inside of him tried to fight the frost to no avail.

His eyes flashed immense anger amidst his laughter as he turned to look at Claire on the side.

"Do you know? I had a S-Sister. I had a Broth-er." His words stuttered out as his lips shook, but he continued.

"B-both were genius Three-Link Gem Masters! Do you know what happened to them? Under commands of your Father, they were forced into the Den of Corruption where they lost t-their lives!"

His eyes radiated visible hatred as he spoke, this hatred seemingly energizing him as he looked at Alexander next!

"And you…your father is the same! They continue commanding others to keep clearing the infested Den of Corruption and ensure the safety of Carthage, but do you know how many Gem Masters die there daily? How many families are broken every day?!"

"..."

Alexander’s eyes became even colder.

This wasn’t something he had ever done before.

Never did he think he would be freezing another Gem Master and trying to get information out of them!

But the more this Gem Master spoke, the more revolting this whole thing seemed as he replied coldly.

"Because of that, the logical thing is for you to link your hands with Beasts of Corruption?!"

The calm face of the Gem Master trembled with coldness.

As if he knew what his actions represented.

Alexander looked at his face while shaking his head and asking again.

"No matter. Who do you pass your information to? What do they want with Claire? Just tell me this, and I’ll make sure you won’t turn into food for Beasts of Corruption here."

He wanted to know who was behind all of this.

And yet the frozen Gem Master sneered while trembling as he replied.

"You stupid little shit, I’ve already lost any feeling in my limbs. The last dredges of my life force are b-barely hanging on. You’ve already killed me. Ah…"

His face became even paler, but Alexander didn’t relent.

The encased ice remained the same as moments later, the Gem Master shook his head while stuttering out.

"Ah, w-why the hell does it matter anyways. One day, someone from the Galanis Bloodline reached out. Asking me if I wanna get back at the ones responsible for my family’s deaths. Haha…the rest is history."

…!

Galanis Bloodline!

One of the Four Human Lineages- and a particularly powerful one since as far as Alexander knew from the wisps of information he would get from his father, just the Mortal Branch of the Galanis Bloodline had a few Five-Link Gem Masters in their midst.

Across many mountains and dry rivers, the City Fortresses under their banner defended against multiple Breaches.

The Galanis Bloodline? Their people were involved in this?!

"Haha…"

Alexander and Claire looked at each other as in their shock, the frozen Gem Master laughed with anger and madness.

"You little shits…I have no idea how you survived this time, but you have no idea what’s coming for you. They want that Five-Link Gem Blueprint of that girl no matter what, and they will get it. The same pain of loss I felt…they promised it. They will deliver it. And you…y-you…!"

His voice became raspy as his barely focused eyes came to lock onto Alexander.

"T-today, you’ve joined your father in becoming a murderer. Haha, I will wait for you in the depths of the Abyss. I will wait for you and your father there! I will-"

SAA!

Alexander clenched his fists as instantly, the ice that had ended below the neck of this being traveled up- his whole head quickly becoming encased in ice and frost as he was entirely frozen over!

"..."

Alexander did this as his eyes were opened wide, his right hand slightly trembling.

He stared at the eyes filled with anger and madness that were frozen over, the Life Force within them rapidly fading away as soon enough, there wasn’t even a single ounce of brilliance in these eyes.

Everything was entirely frozen over.

Alexander was forced to use his left hand to grab the right one- making sure the slight tremble didn’t increase as he supported himself.

A Gem Master…was dead by his hands.

A day after awakening.

Beasts of Corruption fell from his attacks, and before this day ended, a Gem Master did so as well.

A traitor, yes. His passage of information would have gotten them killed, yes. But it was still a Gem Master! And today, he did not wake up with even an inkling that he would have to kill one.

Behind him, he felt the figure of Claire come and give him a hug as his hands became steadier.

They weren’t just trembling from what he had done, but also for what he was about to do.

What he may have to do.

This Gem Master who had betrayed them and endangered their lives was not the only one. There were others.

When he faced them as well…he would likely have to do the same thing!

"..."

"It’s okay."

The soft voice of Claire echoed out beside him.

Her body was trembling a little bit more, and Alexander straightened his back when he felt such tremors as he knew he couldn’t wallow in his thoughts.

On his chest, his Enneagram Life Socket spun with low hums already as it gave him a sense of tremendous comfort.

He breathed out and reset himself, turning away from the frozen Gem Master as he spoke softly.

"The Galanis Bloodline. Your Five-Link Gem Blueprint."

The most important pieces of information they had obtained.

There was still much unknown, but they had achieved their purpose of rooting out the leak here.

Now, they have to get this information to the Branch Leaders and see where to go from here!